A blockbuster Doha quarterfinal between Rafael Nadal and Ernests Gulbis is on tap for Thursday. One of the only two remaining seeds will advance to the semis. Hasan Murad previews the action.
Rafael Nadal and Ernests Gulbis will battle against each other for the second time at this very same stage of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open when they collide during quarterfinal action on Thursday.
Nadal won their previous Doha encounter 7-6(3), 6-3 in 2011. Overall, this will be the seventh installment (fourth on a hard court) of their rivalry, which has been perfectly dominated by Nadal. Interestingly, however, that 2011 Doha collision is the only one of the Spaniard’s six victories over Gulbis that has ended in straight sets.
In his two victories so far this week over Lukas Rosol and Tobias Kamke, Nadal was far from his best in every facet of his game. The top seed, though, is a player who builds confidence with every single win better than arguably anyone else. He showed plenty of improvement in his second match but he will have to leap into a new gear if he is to foil the impending threat in the form of a very talented ball-striker in Gulbis.
Having failed on two previous quarterfinal occasions in Doha (2010 and 2011), Gulbis is aiming to earn a berth in the semis for the first time. The 24th-ranked Latvian booked his spot in the last eight after needing three sets to dispatch both Daniel Evans and Lukas Kubot.
Several times the hard-hitting Gulbis has claimed his game stacks up well against Nadal, who greatly relies on heavy topspin on his groundstrokes. Given how tantalizingly close their two encounters in 2013 were and the fact that four of Nadal’s six wins against Gulbis have translated into eventual title victories for the current world No. 1, there are clear indicators that Gulbis draws the best out of his Spanish nemesis.
“He’s a player you don’t want to meet because he hits every ball very hard with a very strong serve, first and second serve,” Nadal said of Gulbis. “Then he hits every ball very, very, very fast from the baseline; forehand, backhand…. So he’s a difficult player to play against.”
Based on the current forms of both players and the court conditions, Gulbis stands a good chance to atone for his poor record against Nadal. However, it remains to be seen if the temperamental underdog can match Nadal’s mental tenacity.
Pick: Nadal in 3 competitive sets.
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Rafa’s not struggling. It’s always tight with Gulbis. I think Rafa is playing so much better in this match.
Where is everybody? Are we the only ones watching this?
I meant just for the last game ,to close it out 😉
Oh, yes! 🙂
Rafa’s level much higher today. Good to see. Hope he can avoid any early second set letdowns. First two service holds will be key.
Too many UFEs from Gulby.
Saw that break coming.
Congratulations to me. 🙁
what has happened to him? 😐
At least Rafa held. He’s on the board.
Gulbis is playing much better now.
he broke, vamoooos
Woo Hoo! Rafa breaks back!
Now Hold Rafa!
breeeaaaaks again 🙂 yeeees
which passing shot was better?? LOL!! ONLY rafa can pull these off.amazinggg
hi vamosrafa, can you post me here a highlight whenever it’s available? 🙂
sure..will do that ! 🙂
what an amazing display of tennis by the world no.1 … gulbis has one of the best second serves on tour and rafa allowed him to win only 35% of points on 2nd serves !
such an improved performance….as mentioned in the preview, four of nadal’s six wins against gulbis had translated to eventual title victories!…looks like rafa is well on his way to translate another victory over gulbis to a title ! go champ !
nice one, Rafa
thank you 🙂
Wow..in straights..unexpected so early..Go Rafa for the title now
What are all these talks of AO courts being sped up and playing very fast? Is it just conjecture or really true? Why did they do it all of a sudden?
Just few days back there was an article on the lively balls ripping through Rafas racquets..why have the courts been made so fast?
Anyways in Rafa we trust..he won USO on a fast court did he not..AO I hope is not faster than USO
hello sanju 🙂 long time no see 😀
Hi Rafaelo my friend ..Happy new year
Happy new year to everyone else too.
Yeah back now given tennis season has started now. Hope Rafa does well in 2014 and pockets atleast 2 slams
This was a great performance from Rafa. As I predicted, he really stepped it up. I thought all aspects of his game were so much better. I also think that the previous tough matches with Rosol and Kamke helped prepare Rafa for this one. Any time he can beat Gulbis in straight sets, that’s a good day!
Now he is playing this Polish guy whose name I can’t spell or pronounce. I know nothing about this guy. But I like Rafa’s chances now.
As far as the stories of the courts at AT being speeded up this year, I am not concerned. Rafa beat Djoker at the USO on faster hard courts. The key for Rafa is how the balls bounce on the court. If it’s low bouncing that’s not good for Rafa. If it’s high bouncing, then that helps Rafa’s game.
Whatever they do, as long as Rafa is healthy and in good form he will be just fine.
I think the guy is german 😉
yep. he beat fellow German Brown.
great point by NNY. Speed doesn’t matter too much unless he is playing a huge, flat server. Height of bounce most important.
I hope that you don’t compare speed of court to height of bounce.
DO YOU????
There are no slow, low bounce courts nor are there any fast and bouncy courts.
So, one and the same for sure, no?
no, no?
Sorry, I meant to say the courts at AO!
No it isn’t one and the same. There are fast hard courts with balls bouncing higher and those that have balls bouncing lower. Cheryl Murray discussed this at length on TT. Who ever said that all hard courts are fast with low bouncing balls?
They are not one and the same!
well said.
any idea what the title of that blog by Cheryl is/was?
By far the exception and not the norm. And even then, you would be comparing relative bounce height within a given court speed class.
For example, name a fast court with a higher bounce than a slow court?
DO YOU????
🙂
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Ricky,
Thanks for your comment. Honestly, I have no idea if it was a blog by Cheryl. I do think it was, but I just can’t remember in what context, why it was brought up. I know that she also did discuss it on some of the topic threads, but I do believe that it must have been some blog about Rafa and his game.
I wish that I could find it and post it here, because I think she really hit it right on the head. Until then, I know that I was always confused and thought that it was fast hard courts that were difficult for Rafa. Now I know that this is not the case.
Strange that Rafa still has a few more gears to go but didn’t have too much trouble dispatching Gulbis today. Rafa made a few errors he doesn’t normally make and to give Gulbis his due, he played well, but he didn’t play is all or nothing game that he oftens plays against Rafa.
When I watched Rafa practice, he didn’t seem happy with his serve and his forehand and obviously asked for an extension. As he was on CC and the Brown match was on there the ground staff started filing in and Rafa told them to go away, yes, Rafa shooed them away, because the boss had agreed that the could have more practice time so he left the court about 15 minutes before the Brown match started.
second straight week of jealousy that nadline is watching live tennis.
What more can a gal ask?
Nadline, thanks for all the info 😀 hope you are having a superrr time ! 🙂
@Rafaelo, here you go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42xhCRD0z7U
thanks
thank you very much 🙂 😉
vamosrafa, I can’t believe my luck that I am able to go to two tennis tournaments back to back. I was panicking when Rafa was playing ‘Kamikaze’ because how disappointed would I have been if Rafa had lost even before I got to the tournament. Kamke gave him a tough time lucily Rafa made it through.
I’m not predicting anything, but if Rafa can’t beat Peter Gojowczyk then he might as well not turn up at the AO. The Brown/Gojo match is easily the worst match I’ve seen on an ATP tour. Still Rafa can’t be too complacent. Brands was very low key yesterday so I’m not sure how much Monfils has got in reserve and I didn’t get to see the Mayer/Hanescu match because it was moved to court 1 because of the rain delay..
how bad was Gojo vs. Brown??????
Nadal-Gojo – https://tenngrand.com/2014/01/03/doha-sf-previews-and-picks-nadal-vs-gojowczyk-mayer-vs-monfils/
Kamkekaze maybe?
This is perfect prep for AO for Rafa. He has played 3 tough matches against tricky opponents and has played better with each match. I hope the German qualifier pushes him in the semi because we know Mayer and la Monf are going to push him in the final if he gets there.
Vamos Rafa!
I have to believe that it must be great to be able to see Rafa play in person and even talk to him. That would be the opportunity of a lifetime!
I think this tournament has been very good for Rafa. I watched my recording of the match after dinner to see the first half of the first set. That’s the part I missed. Then I decided to watch the match to the end. It really was enjoyable to watch.
I thought that Rafa served extremely well throughout the match. I also think his ROS was much improved. I noticed him standing on the baseline or closer to it for the Gulbis second serves. He also seemed to get better court positioning and was more aggressive, looking to go to the net for some great volleys. Gulbis had more trouble with his serve in the second set. He started missing those first serves and Rafa’s improved ROS on the second serves gave him some great opportunities. At one point in the second set they posted the winners and UE’s for both players. Gulbis had 32 winners to 36 UE’s. I thought he started missing more in the second set. But Rafa really stepped it up to break back and even it up at 3-3 in the second set.
There were a few beautiful Rafa style amazing shots that got him the break to go up 4-3. Even though I can’t stand Gulbis, I do believe that he brings out the best in Rafa.
I don’t like to take anything for granted, but I really think that Rafa is playing well enough to get by this German guy. I also think he’s ready for Monfils, who I think will beat Mayer.
I am liking Rafa’s chances here! It would be great for him to get this win to start off the new year with good feelings! 🙂
@Native,
“That would be the opportunity of a lifetime”…………….believe me it is! I saw him about 5 yrs aog at the US Open 2008 and it was great! I was able to get his autograph, and up to this day, i still cant believe it! I hoping to watch him play at Wimby this year………..hoping that Ricky can help me get a pass…………wink wink!!!!…………….lol!!!
haha Wimbledon may be out of my league….but Queen’s Club for sure!